Dll W Kit; JITs HERBARIA. 291 



easily separate, arc in common usr. Their staple is not so 

 fine, nor have they that glossy silken hue, that appears in the 

 French cotton. 



The French cotton bush grows taller, and more luxuriant, 

 than any of the others, and bears abundance of pods, which 

 contain a fine cotton, as before observed. But this adheres 

 so close to the seeds, that they can hardly be separated, un- 

 less picked by hand. 



Cotton-pods ought to be gathered before they split, dried 

 in the sun on sheets; picked from the husks ; beat with small 

 rods to separate the seeds ; then ground, by passing betwixt 

 two small grooved rollers, turned by wheels; then firmly 

 packed into bags, and sent home for use. Cotton should be 

 planted in June, and it will be ripe in March. It is a very 

 unprofitable plant. The bark makes a shining soft flax. 



116. SlDA RHOMBIFOLIA, L. CommOh Br001)l-WCC(l. 



Dr Grainger calls this species of plants the American 

 clock, as they expand their petals at eleven, and again shut 

 them by two in the afternoon. This does not hold true in 

 all the plants of this denomination, and seems to depend on 

 the weather as well as the time of the day. 



There are many of the mallow kind called broom-weed, 

 from the similitude of their flowers ; from their being cut and 

 tied for broom ; and from their being in use for scouring houses 

 and washing Negroes 1 clothes. Pounded and squeezed, they 

 yielda mucilaginous juice, which, on mixing with any greasy 

 substance in clothes, &c. answers all the purposes of soap. 



117' Malva spicata., L. — White Broom-meed. 



This grows in pastures, fences, and waste grounds, rising 

 sometimes four feet high. The leaves are of a light green co- 

 1 x2 



